Pollution control and convection heater

Abstract

A smoke stack which receives at the lower end thereof dirty hot waste gases and receives adjacent the upper and thereof a constant flow of raw cold juice, the juice and the gases flowing in contra directions. A dual purpose is achieved since the cold juice flowing downwardly against the upward flow of the hot gases will result in the separation of charcoal and other impurities from the hot gas and the cold juice will be heated to the boiling point without the necessity of using separate fuel to produce steam for this purpose. Aiding in the purification of the gases and the heating of the juice causing a perfect mix between the up flowing gases and the down flowing juice are a series of vertically spaced apart peripheral trays or baffles and intermediate the series of peripheral trays are a plurality of central baffles or trays, the juice is fed onto the uppermost central tray, flows from the edges thereof to the next peripheral tray in a cascading manner, and due to these baffles the rising gases are caused to pursue a circuitous route for thoroughly mixing of the gas and juice. To accentuate this mixing the central trays are alternately of different configuration.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A smoke stack, including in combination a feed inlet at the bottom thereof for feeding dirty hot waste gas into the lower end of the smoke stack for upward flow and purification of said gas for exit from the top of the smoke stack, means adjacent to but downwardly disposed relative to the top of the smoke stack for feeding raw cold juice into the smoke stack for flow downwardly therein counter to the flow of the ascending hot waste gas for the heating of the raw cold juice, means at the bottom of the smoke stack for flow of the heated juice therefrom, a vertical series of spaced apart central baffles mounted in said smoke stack, the outer edge of each baffle being spaced from the wall of the smoke stack, the uppermost central baffle of said series of central baffles is of circular configuration and the next lower adjacent central baffle is of rectangular configuration, and this differing configuration is followed alternately through the remaining central baffles of the series of central baffles, and a vertical series of spaced apart peripheral baffles mounted on and extending inwardly a distance from the wall of the smoke stack, a peripheral baffle of said series of peripheral baffles being disposed in spaced relation to and between each pair of adjacent central baffles, the juice feed means directing the juice on to the uppermost circular central baffle of the series of baffles, whereby the juice descends in the smoke stack from a central baffle to the next adjacent peripheral baffle and then to the next adjacent central baffle and so on through the series of central baffles and peripheral baffles in a cascading manner, while the gas flows upwardly against the descending juice and is caused by the baffles to pursue a circuitous course in the smoke stack for complete mixing of the juices and the gas and heating the juice, and the inner edge of said uppermost peripheral baffle is substantially in the vertical plane of the outer edge of said uppermost central baffle, the inner edges of the remaining peripheral baffles being outside the vertical planes of the edges of the remaining central baffles.